Housepainters might not be available right now, but you can still start preparing for your spring painting job so you aren’t stuck trying to rush before the weather turns cold again. Painting is not typically a fun job for most people. When many homeowners start their paint job, they think they’ll knock it out in a few hours or so. It’s easy to look at a wall and say to yourself, ‘it can’t be that hard, can it?’ That’s because, in your head, you’re only factoring in the final coat being applied to the surface. Sure, applying a single coat of paint to an exterior or interior wall won’t take you that long (unless you have many objects, plants, or other things you don’t want to get paint on in the way). What consumes most of the time for any painting project, however, is proper prep work. And if that prep work isn’t done correctly the first time, you’ll end up spending far more on your next spring paint job than you think.

Let’s start with the first spring painting tip from an expert: 

Have Patience

I’ll elaborate on the prep work later. For now, let’s explore a concept foreign to many amateur painters or homeowners: patience. In Colorado, it’s certainly possible to get a stretch of fine weather days that make it possible to sneak in a paint job as early as March. However, because springtime in Denver can swing from one extreme to the other, sometimes within hours, you have to be careful about when you decide to paint. 

Starting a new paint job is a commitment. It’s nearly impossible to save your work and your equipment when a storm suddenly rolls in or temperatures drop unexpectedly. The best advice is to be patient. Wait until you know you have a weather window that allows you to put your best coat on your house’s exterior without losing it in a thunderstorm. You’ll have to pay attention to the weather even if you’re painting indoors, too, because it could affect indoor humidity and ventilation. 

It’s All About the Prep Work

There are plenty of things to check and prepare around your home’s exterior before you start slapping that brand-new paint on it. Interior spaces need some prep work, too. The first thing you’ll need to look for is signs of rot and other damage to the surface you’re painting itself. If your boards are rotting, for example, painting them won’t help anything very much. Also, make sure that any wood you paint has been completely dried all the way through. Painting your home right after a thunderstorm, for example, is a bad idea. 

Do a thorough check of your surfaces, then scrape any flaking paint off with a scraper. Then apply the primer, so that when the paint comes on, it has something to bond to. 

Some Paint Defects Could be a Sign of Worse Problems

If you’re noticing an undue amount of flaking, crumbling, and blistering, you could have issues with water coming down the side of the building or seeping through the wood itself. Make sure you check for water leaks and areas that appear to be taking more water damage than normal during the spring. Also, look for sun damage. Cracked paint, even chalky paint, is possible when damaged by the sun in typically dry conditions like Denver. 

For more expert-level tips on spring house painting, contact Ireland’s Finest Painters today.